53. The triple world is composed of the Divine soul, beside which there is no existence; therefore if thou art anything thou must be the soul, or otherwise thou art nothing.
54. I am now this (as a boy), and then another (as an old man), and that these things are mine and those another’s, are thoughts that vainly chase upon the mind; for thou art nothing positive here, and positivism is as false a theory as the horns of a hare (or rara avis) on earth.
55. We have no notion of a third thing between the intellect and the body, to which we can refer the mind, as we have no idea of an intermediate state betwixt sunlight and shade (where we may betake us to rest).
56. It is that something then, which we get by our sight of (i.e. by the light of) truth, after the veil of darkness has been removed from our eyes. It is our consciousness (the product of the light of truth), that we term the mind.
57. Hence, O foolish mind! thou art no active nor passive agent of action, but art the sedate self-consciousness of Brahma (knowing only “I am what I am”, “Sohamasmi”). Now therefore cast off thy ignorance, and know thyself as a condition of the very soul.
58. Truly the mind is represented as an organ of the sense of perception and action, and the internal instrument of knowing the soul, and not the soul itself; but this is only by way of explaining the knowable by something familiar and better known to us, and serving as its Synonym. (As to see one’s unlookable face, by the reflexion of the very face in the looking glass; so it is to perceive the invisible soul by its shadow cast upon the mind. This explains the mention of the mind in the Srutis such as in the texts:—“It is by means of the mind alone, that the knowledge of the soul is to be gained.” “It is through the mind only, that the soul is to be seen.” And so many other passages).
59. The mind being an unreal instrumentality (as the sight &c.), can have no existence without its support (as the eyes of the sight); nor can it have any action of its own, without the agency of an actor (as the sword of the swordsman). Hence it is false to attribute activity or sensibility to it.
60. Without the agency of an actor, the instrument of the mind has no power nor activity of its own; as the passive sickle has no power of cutting the harvest, without the agency of the reaper.
61. The sword has the power of slaying men, but by means of the agency of the swordsman; otherwise the dull instrument has no power in any part of its body, to inflict a wound on another.
62. So my friend, thou hast no power nor agency of thine own, to do thine actions to trouble thyself in vain. It is unworthy of thee to toil for thy worldliness like the base worldling (i.e. worldly goods), unless it were for thy spiritual welfare.